Meralco forced the newest saga of its never-ending rivalry with Barangay Ginebra to a rubber match of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals series following Friday’s 108-104 victory at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Having done that with their first win over the Gin Kings this season, the Bolts know too well that they’ll should be even higher within the decider in the event that they wish to find yourself because the victor of their fifth do-or-die encounter with Ginebra and march to the semifinals where NorthPort awaits.
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“We actually should play on one other level,” coach Luigi Trillo said after enduring a foul-prone evening and a persistent Ginebra squad that doggedly tried to finish a sweep. “Meaning less mistakes, give attention to toughness.”
Game 3 is about for Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo City as they break a 2-2 deadlock in series deciders. The winner then advances to the following round to slug it out with the Batang Pier, the top-ranked team after the eliminations who did short work of Magnolia of their quarterfinal series.
Ginebra won the primary two, winning Game 7 of the 2017 Governors’ Cup Finals before 54,000 fans at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, before prevailing in Game 5 of the 2020 Philippine Cup semis with none fans within the bubble in Pampanga.
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Meralco was triumphant in the following two, in Game 3 of the 2022 Philippine Cup quarterfinals at Mall of Asia Arena and Game 7 of the 2024 Philippine Cup semis in San Jose, Batangas.
Whose comfortable ending?
This time, the 2 teams will climb to the country’s pilgrimage capital to see which one gets to write down a comfortable ending to this chapter.
“We will’t come right into a fight without being ready,” said Trillo. “Looking forward to that, we are going to watch what we want to do. It’s a unique chapter with a number of recent guys on the opposite side. That’s why now we have to be ready.”
The Bolts dropped Game 1, 100-92, two nights prior at Smart Araneta Coliseum despite taking a slim lead twice within the fourth. This time, they made sure that their margin, which went as high as 12, can be sustained.
That’s even after import Akil Mitchell, Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome, who scored 24 points with five assists, needed to play with five fouls apiece.
Big lift
Meralco, nevertheless, got an excellent lift from longtime wingman Jansen Rios, whose 15 points that included some key three-pointers kept Ginebra at bay while helping on defense.
Rios has change into a major a part of the rotation, saying his inspiration is his recent baby.
Justin Brownlee scored 36 points within the defeat, though Ginebra had a possibility to tie it up when rookie RJ Abarrientos went for a four-pointer.
Abarrientos, nevertheless, couldn’t nail the contested shot from the left side, and Ginebra is now left to start processing what went fallacious and what it needs to regulate with a view to prevail against an old foe.
